The present disclosure relates generally to tonneau covers and more particularly to a latch and locator to align a tonneau cover to a pickup truck bed.
It is known to integrate fasteners into the frame of a tonneau cover to latch the tonneau cover to the side of a truck bed. Exemplary conventional fasteners for tonneau covers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,334,830 entitled “Tonneau Cover” which issued to Weldy on Feb. 26, 2008. This patent is incorporated by reference herein. Such fasteners, however, often protrude into a cargo area of the truck bed and interfere with transportation of items within the truck bed.
Some traditional aftermarket, flexible tonneau covers are releasably clamped to the bed of the pickup truck since it can be necessary on occasion to carry loads in the bed that exceed the height limitations of the tonneau cover. Convenient rollup fabric covers can not support heavy weight, such as snow and can have widely varying attachment forces over time and in different temperatures. The clamps, mounting frame, hinges, and hardware of many tonneau covers are often completely separable from the cover and must be kept track of when the cover is in storage. The multitude of hardware involved in securing tonneau covers to truck beds also takes considerable time and effort to install, open, close and remove. When the cover is assembled on the pickup truck bed, the hardware is often positioned in a location that causes interference with cargo (interfering with cargo movement, damaging cargo during loading or unloading, or preventing transportation of cargo all-together).
Often, C-clamps and permanent rail structures are used to secure the tonneau cover to the truck bed. These systems are extremely slow to position and properly install, cause penetration to the cargo bed walls, and are relatively expensive to manufacture. Further, given the diversity of cargo bed construction and wall configurations, it is sometimes necessary to have specific clamps, rails, bows, and corners for specific models of pickup trucks. This disadvantageously causes a multiplicity of parts and tooling, thereby adding expense and manufacturing complexity. Moreover, some of the prior c-clamps used for tonneau covers have been prone to unstable installation due to mismatched surface configurations between the clamp and the portions of the bed walls to which they were applied.
In accordance with the present invention, a tonneau cover apparatus is provided. In one aspect, a tonneau cover apparatus includes a handle or lever, a mount, a locator, a finger, a detent and a complementary peg. In another aspect, a handle and mount are configured such that the handle is substantially horizontal when in a closed position. When the handle is substantially horizontal, it advantageously is out of a normal storage space in a truck bed. A further aspect employs at least one locator to align a tonneau cover to a truck bed. Another aspect includes a finger which is coupled to a handle to clamp a tonneau cover apparatus to a truck bed when the handle is in a closed position, thus securing the tonneau cover to the truck bed.
A method of installing a tonneau cover is also set forth. In one aspect, the method includes aligning a front side of a tonneau cover to a front of a pickup truck bed perimeter by aligning locators on the tonneau cover apparatus with an inner wall of the truck bed. A handle of each tonneau cover apparatus is moved to a closed position thus clamping a claw to the truck bed. The tonneau cover is then unfolded. In an aspect, installation of the tonneau cover on the pickup truck bed is completed in approximately thirty seconds or less.
The tonneau cover apparatus of the present invention is advantageous over traditional devices. For example, use of locators on the tonneau cover apparatus aligns the tonneau cover to the truck bed in a much easier and shorter amount of time than the traditional hardware used to secure traditional tonneau covers to truck beds. This serves to advantageously achieve much quicker and more accurate installation of the tonneau cover on the truck bed, which is ideal for OEM assembly plant installation on a moving assembly line versus traditional after-market installation where customer time is less of a concern. Furthermore in an aspect, the tonneau cover apparatus is advantageously stronger, more durable over time, requires less installation steps, is not prone to loosen when driven down bumpy roads, etc. Additional advantages and features can be found in the following description and appended figures.